


Twenty Things You Said

by pencilguin



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Not In Chronological Order, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-03-07 19:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 5,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18879919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: Little moments from the lives of Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber.





	1. while we were on a shuttle

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collection of short fics, based on a list of prompts. 100-word drabbles are still beyond my capacity but I’m trying to keep these under 300 words each. They all have different moods and themes, some are silly, some are fluff, some have angst. They're not in chronological order. They're also all unbeta’d, so sorry for any mistakes. (Any content warnings will be in the individual chapter notes.)

After staring out the window in silence for all of about three minutes, Paul spoke again.

“But what if your _abuela_ doesn’t like me? From everything I’ve heard about her from you, she’s a really big deal and if her opinion of me is negative, isn’t that going to affect everyone else’s too?”

Hugh laughed.

“She’s not our _matriarch_ , Paul. Not officially, anyway.” He winked at him, grinning from ear to ear. “Mom and her still fight all the time, it’s not like she dictates everyone’s opinions. Even if she can be a handful.”

“I’m just really anxious about making a good first impression.”

Hugh put his hand on Paul’s shoulder.

“You’ll be fine. _I_ love you. That’s gonna be enough for them. Trust me.”

Paul tried to cast a hopeful smile at him, even though it still looked a little forced.

“Okay.”

Then he looked out the shuttle window again, finally at peace.

Or so it seemed for five minutes.

“But what if your sisters—”

“ _Paul_ ,” Hugh said, kindly but a little out of patience. “You’re the first boyfriend who gets to meet my family in over a decade, they’re gonna love you simply because they’ll be relieved to finally know I might not have to die alone. Relax.”


	2. after you kissed me

The kiss was too short, even though Paul felt like he could have lived an entire lifetime in that one moment. Immediately, he missed the contact of Hugh’s lips. He slowly opened his eyes again; in front of him, wonderfully close, was the softest smile he had ever seen in his life, and it made his heart spill over even more with happiness.

Hugh hummed quietly before he spoke.

“That was good. I liked that.”

Paul smiled back at him.

“Me too. Can we do that again?”

“Oh, definitely,” Hugh responded, the tone of his low voice and his still close breath making Paul’s skin tingle.

Their second kiss lasted longer and felt even more amazing and Paul wished he could get lost in it forever, as if they were getting to know each other anew, in ways they never had before, and still he wanted it to never end.

When Hugh pulled back they were both a little out of breath. Hugh licked his lips, and Paul found himself staring as if it was the most distracting and most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. Then Hugh smiled once more.

“Mint.”

“Huh?” Paul blinked at him, slightly confused.

“You,” Hugh said. “Now I wonder … Is that still an aftereffect of you licking your _Prototaxites stellaviatori_ , or have you always tasted like mint?”

Paul chuckled.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that. But you’re definitely the first to comment on it.”


	3. at one a.m.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: mention of canon character death.

A pained yelp next to him startled Hugh awake. He bolted upright and turned around to see Paul curled up, shaking, muttering and making noises of distress. Another nightmare, it seemed. Hugh’s heart ached. They had become a nightly occurrence ever since the incident on the Glenn.

He leaned down and carefully touched Paul’s shoulder, talking to him with a gentle voice.

“Paul, it’s okay. You’re safe. It’s just a nightmare.”

After a few moments, Paul blinked at him in the dark, horror and devastation in his eyes. He didn’t say anything at first, only crawled into Hugh’s arms. He was still trembling.

“I’ve got you,” Hugh whispered, slightly rocking back and forth and stroking his hair. “You’re home. It was just a bad dream.”

After another pause, Paul finally responded.

“I had a nightmare again … Lorca sent me to the Glenn after an accident …” His voice was small and Hugh had to strain his ears to understand him. “I dreamed that Straal was …” He drew a shaky breath. “That Justin was dead.”

Hugh felt his heart break.

“Paul …”

“They were all dead …”

Hugh swallowed.

“I’m so sorry, Paul,” he said with a heavy heart.

“That—that wasn’t a dream,” Paul muttered after a moment, “was it?”

Instead of responding, Hugh just wordlessly hugged him closer.

“All of those bodies …” His voice sounded hollow now, and it haunted Hugh more than he could have imagined. “All those distorted, twisted bodies … I—” His voice broke. The shaking got worse; Hugh could feel it. “Will the images ever go away?”

He didn’t know what to say.

“I hope so,” he said at last, then kissed the top of Paul’s head. “But no matter what … Remember that I’m here for you, love.”


	4. with too many miles between us

“So …” Paul cleared his throat. “That’s the situation. We’ll be joining Starfleet, and going on spaceships. I … I guess I thought you should know.”

Hugh remained silent for a long time. Eventually, all he managed to say was, “Okay.”

Paul looked at him, eyebrows drawn together, in his patented “sad puppy” expression.

“You’re angry.”

“I’m not saying that.”

“But you’re feeling it.”

Hugh sighed.

“I don’t know. This is very sudden.”

Paul’s expression looked pained.

“I know. And I’m sorry. I wish things were different, but I didn’t have much control over this.” He seemed to attempt a comforting smile, but while genuinely warm, it was mostly sad. “I wish everything was different. That we weren’t so far apart all the fucking time. That you weren’t in Starfleet and I didn’t have to join them. I just want both of us to be able to work in a time of peace and live on the same planet and come home to our _shared_ home every night and fall asleep in each other’s arms. I … I don’t even have any idea how we’ll be able to meet at all.” Hugh watched as he ran a hand over his face. He wanted to reach through the screen and take Paul’s hand in his. If only he could.

“So,” he asked eventually, “when will you be leaving?”

“In a few months,” Paul responded. “That’s all they’ve given us so far. Depends on how fast they can build the ships, I think.”

“We’ve still got some time, then,” Hugh said.

“Yeah …”

“Paul.” He leaned forward, closer to the screen. “We’re going to figure this out.”

Paul gave him a hopeful smile. In that moment, Hugh made his decision.


	5. with no space between us

Hugh came to his senses, and it felt like being squeezed out of a long, dark tube. An avalanche of sensations crashed down on his senses, and he needed a few seconds to reorient himself. Or maybe they were hours; at this point, he couldn’t tell. Time had lost all meaning to him in the last nine months. The dark, musty cocoon around him dissolved, exposing his bare skin to the cool, sterile air outside. The lights were dim, artificial, the floor beneath him something cold and grilled and metallic. It would take him several more minutes to realize he was in engineering, and that he had just left the organic transporter that the Jah’Sepp had used to reconstruct his entire body from scratch. Right now, everything just felt raw and new and entirely unfamiliar, and his body reacted reflexively with violent shivers.

There were noises coming from somewhere nearby, the sound of voices and commotion, and they echoed inside his head as if they _should_ be familiar, demanded recognition from him, but he wasn’t accustomed enough to this new body to make sense of them.

Something rushed up to him from behind, soft underneath rough fabric, warm, wrapping around him, lifting his upper body a few inches from the floor. Hugh’s eyes focused on a face, and his brain took forever to process their input. Pale. Blond. Human. Male. Hopeful. He remembered someone that description might apply to.

When he tested his vocal cords, he almost failed. Such a tiny noise, barely more than a breath.

“Paul.”

Still, Paul heard. Hugh watched relief wash over the pale face, felt him cling and pull Hugh as close as he could.

“It worked … you’re here … you’re back …”

Everything felt wrong, and Hugh’s new tear ducts commenced their duty.


	6. when we were on top of the world

“So, do you like it?” Hugh knew the question was unnecessary, the way Paul’s face lit up as he looked outside and down at the world beneath their feet, excited like a little child and ten times as adorable, told him all he needed to know and more. But he liked talking to Paul, and he loved listening to Paul talk to _him_.

Paul looked at him, his cheeks and nose and ears adorably red in the cold winter evening air, his expression inexplicably soft and bright at the same time.

“I _love_ it,” he simply said. “Thank you for indulging me.”

Hugh fondly responded, “It’s my pleasure.”

He’d had a vague plan, when he met Paul today. Maybe for today, maybe not. But for somewhere, somewhen, down the road.

Then he’d spent the whole trip around the winter market holding Paul’s hand, walking or standing close to him, sharing warm food and hot drinks, until the Ferris wheel had caught Paul’s eyes and lit a light in them that had left Hugh utterly charmed.

_“Do you like Ferris wheels, Hugh?”_ he had asked.

_“I do.”_ Hugh had noticed how Paul had been unable to pull his eyes away from it.

_“I used to love them as a kid,”_ Paul had said. _“I haven’t taken a ride on one in ages.”_

Hugh then made a decision to go through with his plan, today.

_“Do you want to go?”_ he’d asked with a smile.

Paul had turned to look at him, then smiled back.

_“I’d love to.”_

“Paul,” Hugh said now, “I wanted to ask you something.”

Paul watched him curiously.

“Yes?”

“Would you — do you want to be my boyfriend? Partner? Make our relationship official?”

Curiosity gave way to a smile, the softest and brightest he’d ever seen.

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? [thewatch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewatch/pseuds/thewatch) wrote a lovely follow-up fic to this chapter, which you should absolutely check out: [when we were on the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19857196)! <3


	7. that i wasn't meant to hear

Paul was in the middle of meddling with the Computer configurations for their quarters, trying to reset the alias names he’d set for Hugh’s favorite opera pieces, when he stumbled across a bunch of logs. He hadn’t meant to — they seemed to be Hugh’s. He was about to close them; he had no interest in snooping around. The way he saw it, they had a mutual understanding of trusting and respecting each other’s privacy. But then something odd caught his eye. There were dozens — _hundreds_ of queries, all with Hugh’s voice print, and they seemed to repeatedly have addressed the same subsections of the Computer’s database.

This didn’t seem right. Had someone else tried to hack them? Paul furrowed his brows and opened the logs.

The Computer appeared to have found nothing odd about them, at least. Paul checked the dates. There was a pattern, he noticed after a while. The timestamps coincided with him being on shift, or otherwise outside of their quarters. He squinted, tried to think back. They seemed to be times when Hugh had, in fact, likely been in here. Cautiously, he played some of the most frequent ones.

_“Computer, what date is it?”_

_“It is June 27, 3187.”_

_“Computer, state my name and rank.”_

_“Culber, Hugh. Lieutenant Commander; Doctor.”_

What?

_“Dates … of birth and death?”_

_“Born: December 27, 2211, Earth, Puerto Rico. Died: December 21, 2256. Resurrected: December 1, 2257.”_

_“Computer … replay the logs documenting my death.”_

While the recording was reciting, at Hugh’s request, the reports on his death, his return, the medical report on his new body, and many, many more he had asked for, Paul realized what they were: Reality checks, whenever he was alone, attempts to ground him and remind him that everything he knew and felt was real.


	8. when you thought i was asleep

“I’m fine, Tracy, I can handle this.”

Paul’s mind was afloat, fading in and out of consciousness, his eyelids too heavy to open them.

“Hey.”

Something like a faint echo of pain was resonating through his entire body, washed over by the analgesic doing its work on his system.

“Hang in there, Paul, I’ve got you!”

The only thing his senses could, barely, focus on, was the sound of a voice nearby.

“You should be under by now, and that’s okay.”

He clung to it like it was an anchor, because to him, it was.

“I’ve — I’ve removed the piece of debris from your chest.”

Memories whirled and blurred inside his head, amplified by the storm that the rocking of the ship mid-battle had stirred up.

“And now I’m working to stop the bleeding.”

Hugh yelling, throwing things, walking out.

“I — just need you to stay with me, to make it through this.”

Hugh jumping to his aid against Georgiou.

“I know you can’t hear me, probably, but what can I say?”

Hugh saying he’ll be leaving for the Enterprise.

“Talking to you calms me down; and for this, I need to be calm.”

Hugh, leaning over him, calling him his home, making a promise.

“To save you.”

Which was real, which was true?

“I’m sorry it took me so long, to find my way back to you.”

He hoped it was the latter.

“But I’m here now, and I promise that I won’t go away.”

Maybe all of them, but the last one was what was important.

“So please, don’t die one me, Paul.”

The voice seemed to agree.

“Okay?”

To him, right here, right now, Hugh’s voice was the only thing that mattered.

“I love you, and I’ll be here when you wake up.”


	9. when you were crying

Hugh braced himself and dared to turn his head and look over at Paul next to him. He was silent, staring straight ahead at the speaker in the front, his expression appearing completely neutral to the untrained eye.

But Hugh could tell. To him, it was all there, clear as day. Paul’s eyes were red. His mouth was the thinnest of thin lines. He was blinking too much.

Hugh knew Paul well enough to know he would want to keep the PDA to a minimum in this company; part of his armor that it hurt Hugh to think about. But he also knew Paul well enough to know that he was craving comfort right now.

So he subtly, silently took Paul’s hand in his, intertwined their fingers, squeezed comfortingly.

Paul’s lip quivered, and Hugh could see the tears at last breaking through.

After the speeches had ended, and they’d risen from their seats, they walked side by side in silence without letting go of the other’s hand. Paul seemed in no hurry to follow the funeral procession, and Hugh couldn’t blame him.

“I’m sorry,” Paul said after a while, voice quiet and thick, “that you have to be introduced to my family through this.”

Hugh turned a little to face him, and with his body language he offered a hug and Paul accepted it, leaning into him and resting his head on Hugh’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Paul.” Hugh’s voice was gentle and reassuring and soft. “I’m glad that I can be here for you.”


	10. when i was crying

Hugh couldn’t hide an audible sniffle and wiped at his eyes again.

“I am truly so happy for you, Tilly,” he said. Then corrected himself. “ _Captain_ Tilly.”

She was grinning from ear to ear, radiating happiness, and he could see her tear up a little bit, even, although he had a hard time feeling bad about making her cry this time.

“Thank you,” she said, wrapping him in an embrace. “Thank you so much, Hugh.”

“Look at you getting all sappy here,” Paul commented next to him, but he was grinning.

Tilly’s eyes flickered over to him, then back to Hugh, who snorted.

“Oh, so you’re going to act all tough now?” he shot back jovially. “Don’t think I didn’t see you bawling your eyes out during her speech, mister ‘stern mentor’.”

Paul blushed. Why he had even bothered to put on a serious face, Hugh had no idea; his eyes were so obviously still red.

“You can’t have, it was dark.”

“Not _that_ dark,” Hugh quipped.

Tilly started laughing.

“I hope this means that you liked my speech. Not that it was so bad it made you cry.”

Paul beamed at her now.

“Never.”

They wrapped their arms around each other in a long, warm embrace, and Hugh watched them both in adoration. Even when they eventually pulled back, Paul’s hands remained on Tilly’s arms.

“I hope you know how proud we both are of you, Tilly,” he said. “I think it’s safe to say we’ve both adopted you a little bit. You’re part of our family, and you always will be.”

Now, it seemed, Tilly started crying for good, and pulled both of them in again for a group hug.


	11. over the communicator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: mentions of physical injury.

“—aul? Paul?” Finally, the static seemed to die down and the signal got through. “Paul, can you hear me?”

“Hugh! Hugh, I’m here — we’re here! I’m hearing you!”

“Good—” The static started creeping back in, and Paul tried to move the communicator around as much as he could without leaving his spot by Rhys’ side. “—was called because you said you need medical assistance. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, I’m—” He tried to hold out the communicator with one hand while supporting Rhys with the other. “It’s Lieutenant Rhys, he’s injured — we were attacked by some creature in this cave, and it got him. The captain said you can’t beam us out?”

“No, I’m afraid the interference in the atmosphere is too strong.”

“I think Rhys needs immediate medical attention and I don’t know—”

“—kay, Paul, I’m right here. I’ll walk you through it. What happened?”

Paul tried to describe everything to the best of his knowledge, and he followed Hugh’s instructions to stop the bleeding of the flesh wound that the creature had inflicted.

“It’s not working, Hugh, I — I don’t know what’s wrong, I did everything you told me.”

“It’s okay, Paul.” Hugh’s reassuring voice barely cut through the ever growing static. “You’re doing great, babe. The fangs may have been poisonous, can you see anyth—”

“Hugh? Hugh!”

“—here, Paul, can you still hear me?”

“It’s dark and damp in here, but the edges of the wound look all wrong, like the skin is darkening, the blood vessels are standing out—” He suddenly felt panic constrict his throat.

“Yes, that sounds like poison to me. Paul, listen. Do you have your first aid kit still in your backpack? There should be a—”

“ _Hugh_ ,” Paul interrupted him. “There’s something moving in the shadows.”

“Paul? Paul—”


	12. when you were drunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: alcohol and bad pickup lines.

Hugh was leaning back on a comfy sofa on the side, watching Paul and Tilly having an animated drunk discussion while Michael was standing by and watching mostly Tilly with confusion and utter adoration, until the two women eventually strolled off, arms locked, giggling. This was Paul’s cue to turn around, notice Hugh, and, with the widest grin possible, saunter over to unapologetically crash down on the couch right next to him. He just barely missed the perfect spot, half his right cheek landing on Hugh’s left thigh. Or maybe it was on purpose, Hugh mused; you could never be sure with drunk Paul.

“Hey there,” Paul said cheerfully. “Saw you sitting in the corner all by yourself and thought I’d rescue you.”

Hugh chuckled.

“Very thoughtful of you.”

“Hope you don’t mind if I stare at you from up close instead of from across the room.”

“Wow, you’re drunk.”

“Am not,” Paul said over the rim of his glass before taking another sip. “I’m intoxicated by you.”

“Oh, gosh …” Hugh couldn’t help laughing. Apparently Paul had reached the “bad flirting” stage of his “intoxication”.

“Actually,” Paul continued, wiggling his eyebrows, “my doctor told me I’m missing vitamin U and I was hoping you could help me.”

“ _I’m_ your doctor, Paul.” Oh, who was he kidding? He loved it.

“Oh, really?” Paul said in mock surprise. “Looks like you’re quite the catch. Are you single, by any chance?”

Hugh decided to play along.

“Actually, I have a boyfriend.”

“Shame. Are you interested in checking out alternatives?”

“I think he’d get quite jealous.”

A cheeky grin spread on Paul’s face.

“Wanna make him jealous?”

“Like how?”

“There’s a party in my pants, and you’re invited.”

Hugh threw his head back, laughing.

“You’re the worst. Alright, let’s get out of here.”


	13. under the stars and in the grass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by something that someone once told me about meeting their spouse, and it's stayed with me ever since. I hope you'll like it, and find comfort in it as I did.

After they had finished their picnic dinner and the candles they’d brought had burned down, the two of them were lying on their backs in the soft warm grass, fingers loosely intertwined, staring up at the summer night sky.

“I’m so glad we got to do this. Finally,” Paul remarked.

Hugh’s lips formed a smile.

“So am I. I’ve actually never done this before, and I don’t know why.”

Paul turned his head to look at him.

“What? A summer night picnic? Watching the perseid meteor showers?”

“Yes.”

Paul smiled.

“Me neither.”

He looked back up.

“It’s always been my dream. You know, one of those dream dates you wish you could go on someday. I can’t believe it took us this long.”

Hugh squeezed his hand lightly. They remained silent for some time, watching as the shooting stars flickered across the velvety night sky above them. Bringers of wishes, fulfillers of dreams, they once were considered, Hugh mused, before humans learned what they are and started traveling among the stars themselves. After a while, Paul spoke again.

“Imagine if we had met earlier. Ten years ago. Twenty years ago. How much more time we could’ve had together.”

Hugh turned his head towards him now.

“What makes you think we would’ve worked back then?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was a very different person ten years ago,” Hugh responded thoughtfully. “And so were you. I don’t think I would’ve been ready for this back then. Ready for us.”

Paul seemed to consider his words.

“You’re probably right,” he finally said. “Neither would I.”

He turned his whole body around and propped up his head, smiling at Hugh.

“I’m so glad to have met the right person at the right time.”

Hugh returned his smile.

“So am I, love.”


	14. at the kitchen table

“Here you are.”

Paul stopped his humming and turned around. He was wearing nothing but Hugh’s shirt and an easy smile, and both looked gorgeous on him. The soft light of the Denevan morning sun added an almost ethereal quality to his pale appearance. Wearing only his pants himself, Hugh slipped his hands into his pockets and leaned against the frame of the bedroom door, taking in the sight contentedly.

“I wanted to make you breakfast,” Paul said. “Because you’re my guest.”

Hugh closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Do I smell coffee?”

“You do.”

Paul picked up two mugs from the kitchen counter and walked over. Hugh met him halfway, next to the table. He held one of the mugs out and Hugh took it.

“Smells perfect,” he said with a soft smile.

“I memorized how you like it so I could replicate it exactly,” Paul responded before taking a sip from his own tea mug, his eyes remaining fixed on Hugh. This close, in his personal space, the way he shamelessly appreciated Hugh’s bare chest sent a pleasant shiver down his spine.

After a wordless exchange of raised eyebrows, Hugh said, “Someone stole my shirt.”

Paul shrugged.

“It was on _my_ floor. And—” he grinned— “you look better without it.”

“I’m not complaining.” Hugh snaked his free hand around Paul’s hips and pulled him close. With a low voice, he continued. “There’s something extremely appealing about seeing you in my clothes.” He hesitated. “Does that make me possessive?”

“Not in a bad way,” Paul said, smiling. Then he leaned in and kissed Hugh.

By the time they got back to their breakfast, both the tea and coffee had gotten cold.


	15. when you were scared

“Eek!”

Paul chuckled.

“Did you just ‘eek’?”

Next to him, clinging to his arm and burying half his face in his shoulder, Hugh grumbled.

“So what if I did?”

“Nothing. But it was cute.”

Hugh glared — no, _pouted_ — at him with big, dark eyes.

“I was startled. That was very scary.”

“We can watch something else if you don’t like it,” Paul suggested.

“No,” Hugh protested. “You said that you want to watch this movie.” His voice sounded scared, but his tone seemed final. Paul couldn’t help smiling, touched by the sacrifice Hugh was willing to make for him.

“Okay, but can we rearrange ourselves a little? You’re kinda cutting off the circulation in my right arm.”

“Oh — s-sure, of course, I’m sorry …”

Paul paused the horror movie they’d been watching, while Hugh let go of his arm. He shuffled into a more comfortable position and held up his arm so Hugh could snuggle up to him under it, then wrapped it around his shoulders. After that, he pressed play.

The movie, in all honesty, wasn’t that great. At several scary scenes and jump scares, Hugh whimpered and hid his face in Paul’s chest. Eventually, he just didn’t look up again, but simply remained still with his head on top of Paul’s heart, breathing evenly and quietly snoring.

When the movie was over, Paul didn’t want to move and wake him, so he put on a nature documentary that he’d already watched a few times and closed his eyes, letting his body and mind be carried off to sleep.


	16. you didn’t say at all

Hugh let himself plunge down on the couch with little grace, his head falling back, closing his eyes, taking deep, slow breaths, in and out. Paul looked up from the armchair he’d been curled up in with his PADD.

“Rough day?”

“Don’t get me started,” Hugh said. “Nothing but running around all day. And crawling through the Jeffries tubes once to rescue an ensign who got stuck and injured during repairs.”

Paul wordlessly put his PADD down and got up, sat down at the end of the couch and gestured for Hugh to scoot over and pull his legs up. Then he peeled Hugh’s boots off, his socks, rolled up his pant legs and started massaging his feet.

Hugh sighed happily. “Oh, this is perfect, thank you.”

Paul smiled.

_I love you._

 

“Lieutenant Stamets?” Hugh asked, eyebrow raised. “What brings you here? Is everything okay?”

“Nothing wrong, doctor.” Paul leaned over and whispered, “Meet me in the cultivation bay for lunch?”

“Sure.”

Returning to a professional distance, he responded, “Thank you, Doctor Culber.”

There was a little skip in his steps as he walked out of sickbay. Before he was out the door, he stopped briefly, turned around again, and smiled.

_I love you._

 

Paul shifted and grumbled unintelligibly next to him.

“Good morning,” Hugh said quietly. “How are you feeling?”

“Awful.” He rubbed at his eyes. “Still hurts.”

Hugh bit his lip.

“I told Lorca three jumps in one day were too much. I can’t heal your body fast enough to keep up with that … So I informed him that you need the day off.”

Paul perked up.

“Really?”

“Stay here,” Hugh said with a smile. “I’ll get us breakfast.”

Paul crawled over and wrapped his arms around him, kissed his cheek.

“You’re the best.”

_I love you._


	17. through your teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: very vague mention of past drug use, I guess.

Paul’s head was still feeling … well, “fuzzy” was an understatement. He had to admit that the effect that navigating the spore drive had on his mind was not unlike certain hallucinogenic substances he had sampled in his youth, in a way. He certainly had the endorphin high to show for it, as Hugh had attested. But there was something else as well, looming somewhere in the back of his mind, that had started creeping in lately. He could feel the spore high wearing off already, and there was a feeling of disorientation that he couldn’t quite shake. It didn’t matter, not for now; no point in worrying Hugh. He had bigger concerns right now — like the puncture holes in Paul’s torso that he was currently fixing up. Again.

“There, that should do it,” Hugh said and turned off the regenerator. His fingers gently traced over the freshly healed skin on Paul’s side, and for a moment Paul forgot the professional environment of sickbay as the sudden intimacy of the touch made him shiver.

He was quickly pulled back into reality, however, by the arrival of Lorca.

“Doctor, what’s his status?”

Paul grabbed his undershirt and pulled it back on, ignoring the bloodstained holes in the sides.

Hugh pursed his lips, took a deep breath.

“I healed his wounds. He should get some rest now.”

“When can he be back?”

“In engineering?”

“In the chamber.”

Hugh was glaring.

“Captain, he can’t keep doing this. Today was close. The needle missed his lung by millimeters.”

“Do you have a better solution, doctor?”

Hugh opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Not yet, sir.”

“Figure something out,” Lorca said impatiently. “Until then, he’ll be back on duty and ready to jump tomorrow.”

“… Yes, sir.”

Lorca stormed out. Hugh’s fists were shaking with anger.


	18. when we were the happiest we ever were

“I think we’ve already learned that simply picking up where we left isn’t going to work.”

“Yeah, that … didn’t really go well, I guess.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“We’re starting new, so why don’t we do this the traditional way?”

“Traditional?”

“Yes. Paul Stamets, would you like to go on a date with me?”

 

Options for a romantic date aboard the ship were limited, of course, but Hugh had managed to secure them one of the small recreational rooms. It was Paul’s favorite; this one had tons of luxurious green plants and blooming flowers, and a few extraterrestrial specimens in a variety of colors and forms unheard of on earth. The meal, based on a hand-picked recipe that originated in Hugh’s family, had been delicious, one of Paul’s favorites, in fact. Hugh was even wearing the blue sweater that Paul liked on him so much.

“Thank you,” Paul said sincerely, “for all your efforts. This has been … I don’t know how to explain it. It’s calming and exciting at once.”

Hugh smiled openly.

“I know. For me, too.”

“Hugh, I … I heard what you said, before … you know. I took you for granted too often, and I intend to fix that. I _do_ want to spend more time with you, and work on our relationship more. Sorry it took me this long to realize how precious our shared time is.”

Hugh wrapped his hands around Paul’s nervously clasped fingers.

“Thank you, Paul. I want to be more understanding, too. And I shouldn’t wait until I blow up in your face before talking to you.”

With a shy smile, Paul asked, “Is it okay if I kiss you now?”

Hugh beamed at him.

“I insist that you do.”

Paul laughed, and leaned in.


	19. that i wish you hadn’t

Paul observed his reflection in the full-body mirror and frowned.

“What do you think?”

Hugh looked up, inspecting him curiously, eyebrows rising comically.

“Wow, nice.”

“I don’t know …” Paul wiggled sceptically. “I think they’re too tight.”

“But they really accentuate your ass, babe.”

“I don’t think I wanna accentuate my ass by tearing a pant seam and exposing it in public, though.”

Hugh shrugged.

“That’s fair.” He put on the sweater he had been holding. “What about this?”

Paul’s eyes widened in horror.

“Where did you find _that_?”

“You don’t like it?”

“Honey, it’s hideous.” He ran a hand over his face. “If you put your glasses on you’ll look like a younger copy of uncle Everett.”

“I haven’t met him, is that bad?”

“It … yes. Very, very bad. I don’t want you looking like him.”

“Why not?” Hugh wiggled his eyebrows, grinning. “I could be a sexy version of your uncle?”

“Oh _gosh_ , no — Hugh, please, stop.” Paul buried his face in his palm. “Are you trying to traumatize me here?”

“So you don’t want me to go get my glasses?”

“ _No!_ Stop right there! I’m gonna get you out of that sweater myself, and then I’m gonna _burn_ it!”

He lunged and Hugh ducked away as Paul chased him around the room until he got a hold of the sweater’s fabric, which mercifully didn’t survive and ended up on the trash pile — along with Paul’s now torn pants.

A little out of breath from the chasing and laughing, Hugh returned his attention to the closet.

“What’s this?” His face lit up. “You _did_ do drag! I knew it!”

“I never denied it.”

“Try it on, please? For me?”

Paul grinned.

“Only if you wear yours, too. I know you’ve still got your theater stuff in there.”


	20. after it was over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! This was actually the second of these that I wrote.  
> No warnings today. Enjoy!

“So … this is it, then, huh?”

Hugh turned his head to look at him.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s over. All this anticipating and planning and stressing out. And within only a few hours, it’s all in the past.”

“Oh, Paul,” Hugh said warmly and put his arm around him. “Don’t get all melancholy on me today.”

“I … I’m sorry, love.” Paul smiled down, but a little sadness seemed to loom on his face still. “Do you know how sometimes things you have been preparing for for weeks and months and _years_ are finally there and … everything just feels entirely surreal?”

Hugh considered his words for a moment.

“Yeah, I think I know what you mean.” He looked at Paul closely. “You’re feeling that way now?”

“A little bit, yeah.” Paul sighed. “I wanted to be able to fully enjoy this, like you had asked. But now it’s already over.”

“Oh, _Paul_ ,” Hugh repeated, each word spilling over with love, and Paul found himself clinging to it like an anchor. Hugh took both of his hands. “You know this isn’t over at all, right? We just got married today.” The brightest smile in the galaxy illuminated his face once again, somehow still seeming infinitely more radiant than it ever had before. “This is only the beginning.”

Finally, Paul smiled back at him. Hugh tugged at his hands a little.

“Come on,” he said, still grinning. “We’ve still got our wedding night waiting for us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end!  
> Writing short fics (mini drabbles? triple drabbles? _Tribbles_?) was quite a challenge, but also a lot of fun. If anyone is interested in the prompt list that these were based on, you can find it [here](https://tendateahouse.tumblr.com/post/186865216182). 
> 
> Thank you so much, everyone, for your kind words and comments and continued support! And I hope that, like me, you enjoyed the ride until the end.

**Author's Note:**

> To everyone who leaves any comments on my works: Thank you so much, they make me happier than you can imagine. And if I don’t respond to them it’s because I’ve used up all the words on my writing and all I’m left with is feelings I can’t articulate. <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [when we were on the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19857196) by [thewatch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewatch/pseuds/thewatch)




End file.
